| |  DepartmentsHigh Speed Rail - San Francisco to San Jose SegmentOn July 13, 2009, the City Council approved a plan for outreach to the San Carlos community regarding the proposed high speed rail project. This video shows the staff report from Public Works Director Weil, questions from the City Council and a discussion by Mike Garvey, who is the High Speed Rail Authority's point of contact for community outreach in San Mateo County.
Background
Approval of Proposition 1A on the November 2008 ballot provides $9 billion as a financial foundation for construction of the California High Speed Rail system, which will eventually link California's major population centers from San Diego to Sacramento and San Francisco through the Central Valley. Earlier environmental reviews have noted that electrically powered highspeed trains use one-fifth energy of passenger cars and one-third the energy of airplanes. The new system is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming by more than 12 billion pounds per year and reduce demand for oil by more than 12 million barrels per year in California.
The alignment for the San Francisco to San Jose section will travel along the Caltrain rail right-of-way between San Francisco and San Jose. Future stations are proposed in San Francisco, Millbrae and San Jose, and potential station locations in Redwood City or Palo Alto will be considered. Trains are anticipated to travel at 125 miles per hour in this section of the rail line.The High Speed Rail Authority staff has agreed to provide a presentation tailored to the San Carlos community. This will provide the Council and the public more detail about the project, so that any public and agency concerns, project impacts, alternatives, mitigation measures, and environmental subject areas deserving attention in the EIR/EIS can be identified. The California High Speed Rail authority maintains a web site at http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/ which provides additional background on the project.Environmental Process Scoping sessions have started on the San Francisco to San Jose Section of the project. On January 22, 2008, San Carlos hosted the first scoping session. The project-level Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement will tier off of broader program-level environmental reviews approved by the High-Speed Rail Authority Board in 2008. Now the work turns to project-specific technical studies, impact analyses and mitigation measures required before construction can begin. Here is further information on the work on the High Speed Rail Environmental documents:
Technical Working Group (TWG) and Policymaker Working Group (PWG)
As part of the enhanced outreach program designed by CalTrain, SamTrans and the California High Speed Rail Authority, two groups have been established to work on the High Speed Rail project.
The Technical Working Group (TWG) consists of City Public Works Directors and Key City Staff in each community. Robert Weil, Public Works Director/City Engineer will be representing San Carlos on the TWG. The Policymaker Working Group (PWG) will be made up of one Council Member from each City. The San Carlos City Council has discussed the PWG process and has selected Council Member Omar Ahmad to be the San Carlos representative on the PWG. Click on the links below for more information about the TWG and PWG groups.
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